Israel election: near-complete results suggest extended deadlock

With close to 90% of votes counted, Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party leads but will struggle to form government

Near-complete results from Israel's fourth snap election suggested yet another stalemate, with Benjamin Netanyahu scrambling to cobble together a coalition by partnering with extreme nationalist, hardline religious and far-right parties.

With close to 90% of votes counted by Wednesday evening, the prime minister's Likud party was clearly leading with about 30 seats. The opposition head, Yair Lapid, had roughly 18.